Cartoonist pledges to draw attention to cerebrospinal fluid disease with new manga

Popular manga artist Izumi Matsumoto who was forced to give up work six
years ago because of heavy headaches caused by depleted cerebrospinal fluid
now says he wants to produce comics that help promote understanding of the
disease.

Matsumoto, from Tokyo, 46, debuted as a cartoonist at age 23 and his comic
series, "Kimagure Orange Road," which ran in the top manga magazine Shonen
Jump, helped make him one of the most popular cartoonists in Japan.

Once referred to as "the bible for Japanese youth in the 1980s," the series
about school life was adapted as a TV cartoon and as a movie.

Sometime around autumn 1999, one manga magazine announced that it would run
Matsumoto's new work early the next year. His fans were looking forward to
it, but it never appeared.

Earlier in June 1999, Matsumoto had felt hot flushes in his neck when he was
lying at home and experienced paralysis in the lower part of his body. It
was then he began suffering from headaches.

Cartoonist Izumi Matsumoto

Matsumoto described the feeling at that time as if he was "carrying a
100-kilogram weight" on the back of his head and neck.

"I felt terribly weary and didn't want to do anything," he said. "I felt
that I needed to draw something, but I couldn't hit upon any idea."

He saw doctors at more than 40 medical institutions who explained his
symptoms in various ways. Matsumoto was told that he was depressed, that he
lacked exercise and even that his suffering was due to the fact his teeth
were not well aligned.

After seeing a newspaper article about depleted cerebrospinal fluid in May
2004, he visited Sanno Hospital in Tokyo's Minato-ku in July that year,
where doctors discovered a fluid leakage.

Matsumoto had been hit by a car when he was three years old, and had often
experienced stiff shoulders since then.

"It's possible that his cerebrospinal fluid began leaking because of the
accident. I guess his condition worsened because he worked very hard," a
Sanno Hospital doctor said.

Now that his condition has improved, Matsumoto is talking with a publisher
about the possibility of starting work again. And he plans to draw a manga
about his disease.

"I think many people around the world who suffer from depleted cerebrospinal
fluid often don't understand the cause of their pain," he said. "I want to
boost awareness of this disease around the world through a cartoon."
(Mainichi)